29 Dec - 3 Jan Nai Yang Beach
Rex1
Fri 3 Jan 2014 09:26
We sailed most of the 17 miles from Nai Harn Bay to Nai Yang Beach and even got up to 7.5kts! So unusual to have decent wind. We arrived at 3.45pm and anchored near Storyteller and Lady Kay to the northern end of the beach about 50 metres from a breaking reef - it was very protected with stunning clear water. It is a great location only minutes away from the airport - we watched the flights coming in for landing at all hours. No lack of tourism here in Phuket!
Monday we spent most of the day cleaning the boat and moving stuff from the spare cabin to Dadang's cabin so that Mitch and Elle would have a decent place to sleep. They arrived on a Jetstar flight at 7.30pm and then we had dinner on the beach and were conveniently picked up in the dinghy by Dadang.
Tuesday was a lazy day of kayaking, swimming, walking on the beach and getting ready for New Years Eve. Mitch, Dadang and Greg also had a go on John's small sailing dinghy which they all loved. At 6.30pm we went to Storyteller for cocktails and nibbles and then Dadang ferried the 10 of us into the beach for dinner. Dinner was organised by friend's of Sue's and was only 600 baht per head which included dinner and fireworks (not alcohol). The thai food was wonderful and an absolute bargain at just $20 each. We also bought a beautiful Thai lantern that we lit and set off into the night sky along with hundreds of others during the night. There was also fireworks throughout the night and of course more at midnight, but the real highlight were the stunning lanterns. It would be great to start that New Years tradition in Australia - its seems more symbolic than fireworks. We were all in bed by 2am (even Mitch and Elle).
We decided to stay at Nai Yang Beach as Mitch had a surprise and told us that Sophie (Monty's best friend) and Sam were coming to visit from Melbourne and were flying in on 2 January for a week. We caught a taxi and went north to the Marriott and had lunch at our favourite italian restaurant, followed by Thai massages at Nai Yang and drinks at the bar at Indigo Pearl resort (the best mohitos!)
On Thursday Sue (from Storyteller) and I did a Thai cooking class at Moos Kitchen at Indigo Pearl and loved it. It was very hands on in a super cool kitchen and felt very much like we were on an episode of Master Chef. We made a spicy seasonal vegetable salad with prawns, classic thai style noodles, spicy green coconut curry chicken and deep fried banana thai style. After the 4 hour class we sat down and enjoyed our dishes with a glass of sav blanc - all very civilised. Greg, Mitch, Elle and Grant (Sue's husband) ate lunch at the restaurant downstairs before we all went back to the boat. We were back at the restaurant that night for the seafood buffet with Mitch, Elle, Sophie and Sam (who just landed after 15 hours of flying). We also had our first storm in about 2 weeks with a downpour that lasted about 30 minutes. So now there are 7 of us on the boat and barely enough beds - i have renamed us the backpack boat (the kids have named us the retirement boat!). We will sail to Patong on Friday so the kids can get their fix of Phuket nightlife!